A Conversation on the Veranda

As the major construction on the Ensminger Building draws to a close the focus shifts to the details.  The structure will have only the barest hint of an interior in the storefront but there are still two major areas to include details; the photo studio and the veranda.  The photo studio windows allow a viewer to peer down into the room so I think that's a prime location for a mini scene.  However, I'm going to hold off on that scene for now and address the veranda first.  

Before I can attach the veranda to the front of the structure I needed to add any details that will live there, as getting them in place once it is attached would be akin to building a ship in a bottle.  After looking through my figures and details I found a set of chairs along with a round table, three figures and a spittoon.  I also found an oil lamp sconce to mount on the wall.

The chairs were missing their legs so I robbed Peter to pay Paul and borrowed some legs from another, simpler set of chairs.  Here they are after being repaired, waiting on the glue to cure fully before painting.  Not sure why the one fellow is face down.  Maybe he didn't want to feel left out.  The men in the chair were glued in when I got the details, years ago.

After painting the legs a close-enough color I carefully glued the details onto the veranda.  I also drilled a hole in the wall and mounted the lamp sconce.  As neat as it would be to make this a working light, I'm not convinced it would be worth the effort so for now - and likely for all time - it remains as is.  The folks on the porch will be somewhat illuminated by the interior light shining through the windows.

The figures around the table and the leaning man were all part of a detailed pool hall structure I purchased years ago.  I still have plans for a billiards parlor on this layout but these fellows won't be in it.  They are now having a conversation on the veranda of the Ensminger Building.  I wonder what they're discussing...

Next, window treatments, a base and roof details.  Not sure how much of that will make it to a blog post, as I'm getting new windows next week in the real world and that process might just turn the house upside down for a while.  Happy modeling, and thanks for reading.

 

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

Last year I found a book in a thrift store that caught my interest; in general as a student of history and specifically as a modeler of the 1920s.  The book is titled "Good Life in Hard Times: San Francisco's '20s and '30s" and is by Jerry Flamm, a native son of the city in the title.  Flamm grew up selling newspapers and later went on to work for the Chronicle as a copyboy and a reporter and staff writer for the Call Bulletin.  It is no wonder, then, that the first chapter of this fine book is titled 'Front Page Days' and recalls the ignominious history of the fierce competition and colorful tales from the major San Francisco newspapers.

Flamm's writing is excellent; his stories, gathered from veterans of the era, colorful and interesting.  Though I model a small town in central Florida, the reliance of the public on the paper for their news transcends the geographic location.  Radio was in its infancy, television was unheard of.  If you needed to know the score or the stock price or the sales in the stores, you looked in the paper.  A small town rag might cost a penny.  In the big city by the bay, two cents or even three would get you the news. 

So inspired by the tales of plucky newsboys on the street corners and brash reporters and photographers, I began to wonder how I might capture some of this spirit in 1:87 scale.  Naturally I thought of figures.  I had recently purchased a set of Preiser figures on eBay and they included a newsboy and a man in a suit reading a paper.  Mine came in a large set of figures from the 1920s, all unpainted, but I don't believe that set is available anymore.  However, the two figures pictured below are still available in the set #12133, "On the Platform, 1900-1925 (am Bahnsteig)" though you'll likely pay as much for the 6 painted figures in that tiny box as I did for the 40+ unpainted figures I found.

Note the stands I made, allowing me to prime the figures then hold them for painting.  The corks are epoxied onto washers, and the figures are stuck there with crafter's stick-on glue dots.  

While I was able to find figures for this side of the equation, the sales and consumption of the news, I have yet to find acceptable figures for the other side, the reporting and photographing of the news.  There are photographers out there but they look more suited for the 1960s at the earliest.  I have seen no reporters wearing caps and holding note pads, but plenty of folks holding microphones standing in front of cameras, both on tripods and shoulders.  It would be nice to get such figures to pose at the scene of an accident or some other event, or as they often would be, waiting outside a police station or courthouse to get the scoop.

There are several more chapters in Flamm's book, and I hope they will provide me with as much inspiration and general background knowledge as this first one has.  Up next is all about radio, and there are subsequent chapters on dining, sports, swimming, and of course the Southern Pacific's ferry operations across the bay, and more.  It is highly likely I'll mention this book again on this blog.